On This Day in Science History - November 6 - Yeast Fermentation

November 7th marks the passing of Swedish biochemist, Hans von Euler-Chelpin. He was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Arthur Harden for their investigations into the process of fermentation and yeast enzymes.

Brewers use yeast to convert glucose (sugar) into carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. People have been using yeast for centuries for fermentation but the process was not fully understood. Eduard Buchner identified the yeast enzyme called zymase when he removed all cells from the yeast and still managed to produce fermentation. He would win the 1907 Nobel Prize for this discovery. Harden later showed zymase was made up of two different varieties and Euler-Chelpin discovered the complementary enzyme, cozymase that was responsible for the production of carbon dioxide in the process.

Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.

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